Alice woke with a sudden gasp to a darkened bedroom. As her body caught up to her mind - muddled with the remnants of her dream (Nightmare?, she wondered) - the bruises on her arm and cheek ached, and the scrape on her palm stung any time she flexed her left hand as she sat up slowly and covered her eyes to ease her throbbing head. A gentle tap on the bedroom door sounded like a cannon blast and Alice winced.
It creaked open and the familiar uneven gait of Ballarat's Chief Superintendent graced her ears. He closed the door behind him, crossing the room in silence and Alice felt the bed dip beside her; she nearly started crying again when he pressed the softest kiss to her temple.
"Hey," he murmured against her skin. "How are you feeling?"
"Like my head's going to explode," she whispered, keeping her eyes covered by her hand. "My arm hurts, my face hurts, my head hurts, my eyes hurt… everything hurts."
"I'll see if Lucien has anything to help, sweetheart."
Alice nodded slowly and leaned towards Matthew's voice; he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her against his side. "Where's Bernice?"
"She woke about a couple hours ago while you were still dead to the world; she's been asking me and Frank all sorts of questions about becoming a police officer. I pity the crims who'll have to answer to her in the future."
She laughed lightly, "She'll turn the police force on its ear, that's for sure."
"Oh, I don't doubt it," Matthew pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Peg wanted to know if she woke you up at any time."
"No, she didn't."
"Did you sleep well?"
"I think so," Alice sighed and gingerly rubbed at her eyes - the grit irritating the raw skin around them. "I… I had a weird dream, and I'm still not certain if it was a dream or a nightmare."
"Do you remember it?"
"No," she shook her head and leaned further into his arms. "No, I don't remember it, I just remember feeling afraid and then waking up with a strange feeling until you came in."
He pressed another kiss to the top of her head, "Maybe it's your mind working through everything that happened today."
"Maybe," she shrugged. "I'm starving."
That got a laugh out of her husband, "You missed dinner, sweetheart, but Jean put aside a helping for you. Lucien said you're due for a checkup with the baby."
"Food first, please," Alice tilted her head back with a pout until Matthew leaned down and kissed her.
"Of course, I think there might even be chocolate cake if we hurry."
"Cake?"
He grinned at the way she perked up at that - Alice had always had a bit of a hidden sweet tooth and the pregnancy gave her stronger cravings for sugar.
"Yes, cake, if you're up to it."
"Yes!"
"Do you want to have dinner in here where it's quieter or do you want to go into the kitchen?"
Alice kissed his cheek and smiled, "My head's not hurting as much, so I think I'll chance the kitchen, plus it's closer to the study. Can I borrow one of your cardigans?"
"Didn't you already steal one?"
"It doesn't smell like you anymore."
Matthew chuckled even as he got up and rummaged through the wardrobe, "And?"
"And so it's not as comforting."
He brought her a different cardigan and kissed her forehead, "You silly girl, I love you."
"You're just as silly," she protested even as she pulled the cardigan on, "I've seen you thumbing my favorite books."
Matthew just smiled and tilted her head up with a hand under her chin for a kiss. Helping Alice up from the bed, he laced his fingers with hers as she leaned up against him while they walked out of their bedroom towards the kitchen. Alice shielded her eyes from the light as Matthew guided her to a seat at the table - keeping them covered until the pounding in her head (that resurfaced outside of the darkened bedroom) receded into a dull ache and he pressed a cool glass of water into her hands.
"Drink, sweetheart, Jean's getting your food," Matthew pressed a kiss to her forehead.
She nodded gingerly and sipped from the glass as Jean placed a plate in front of her with a hand on her back and a kiss to the top of her head.
"Thank you, Jean," Alice told her softly while Matthew sat by his wife's side. "For earlier and for saving me some food."
"Of course," Jean smiled and smoothed a hand over Alice's hair. "You needed the rest and now you need nourishment. I've got cake afterwards too."
Alice smiled back and slowly ate her dinner - Matthew rubbing her upper back as the food in front of her disappeared (she half-heartedly glared at him whenever he snuck a green bean off her plate).
"What?" he asked with a smile.
"Didn't you get enough earlier? This is my dinner."
"Yes, but it's more delicious coming off your plate," Matthew pressed a kiss to her cheek and she couldn't help but giggle.
A soft tug on her sleeve diverted Alice's attention from her husband to see her niece standing by the table. "Auntie Alice?"
"Yes, Bernice?"
"Are you okay?"
She smiled and nodded, "Yes, Bernice, I am."
Her niece smiled back, "Good. Can I give you a hug before Mummy takes me up for bed?"
"Of course!" Alice slid the chair back a bit and shifted so Bernice could wrap her arms around her neck tightly. Rubbing the girl's back, Alice pressed a kiss to the side of her head, "How are you feeling, Bernice?"
"Much better after the nap with you and Mummy kissed the bruises to make them better."
"She did, did she?" Alice drew back and smiled when Bernice nodded. "That's good."
"Could you kiss them too? Maybe they'll feel twice as better."
Matthew's hand was warm on her back as Alice nodded, "Of course, every little bit helps."
"And maybe I could kiss yours," Bernice pointed to Alice's cheek.
"I'd like that very much."
Bernice grinned as her aunt leaned down and kissed the finger bruises around her upper arm, followed by a kiss to her forehead and another hug. A slightly messy kiss was bestowed over the bruise on Alice's cheek from her niece, but Alice didn't mind the mess as she held Bernice close.
"Be good for your mum, and sleep well, alright, Bernice?"
Her niece nodded vigorously as Peggy entered the kitchen, "I promise, Auntie Alice."
"Good girl," Alice kissed her forehead one more time and waved as Peggy led Bernice from the kitchen by her hand.
"You know," Matthew whispered in her ear as he held her close, "one day soon we'll be talking to our kid like that and you're going to do so great, sweetheart."
Alice sniffed and blinked back the tears gathering in her eyes, "You know… I think I'm starting to believe that, dearest."
Matthew kissed her temple as she leaned into his embrace, "I love you, Alice."
"I love you too, Matthew, and I'm so grateful I have you by my side."
"Always."
"Alice, how was the cake?" Lucien asked as she and Matthew entered the study.
"Divine," she answered as she headed towards the examination table. Matthew shifted in the doorway and turned to leave, but Alice tugged on his hand. "Stay please, Matthew."
"You're sure?"
Alice leaned up and kissed his cheek, "Yes, please stay."
He snuck a kiss to her forehead as Lucien approached and nodded, "Alright."
"Staying for the check up, are we, Matthew? Good, I've got a treat for both of you today."
"What sort of treat?" Matthew asked as he helped his wife step up onto the examination table. She quietly directed him to help her with a sheet for modesty as she took off her pajama bottoms.
"You'll see, Matthew, we've got to get through the nitty gritty details first, but you're both going to love it. Now, relax for me, Alice, you're an old hand at this by now."
Matthew held Alice's hand as Lucien conducted his pelvic examination - feeling her squeeze it whenever things got a little uncomfortable; he wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but he followed Alice's lead in all of it. Lucien let her relax as he jotted down notes and asked her questions: How was she feeling? Was she getting more tired during the day? Any unusual pains or cramps?
"My feet get tired more easily when I stand for long periods of time, but it helps to walk around when that starts. And my back is starting to hurt more, but I think that's just stiff and sore muscles from the extra weight of the baby."
His friend nodded and he smoothed his hands over Alice's bump - smiling when Baby Lawson kicked. "All completely normal, Alice, which is good. Matthew can help with the stiff and sore muscles if he's willing, and my goodness, you've got an active little one in there."
Alice nodded and sighed, "I've gotten woken up by the baby moving around more times than I can count in the past few weeks."
"You've got another month or so of that happening, and more frequent trips to the loo during the night too," he told her with a wink as he took measurements, "your bump is a little on the small side, but not worrisome. It could be that the baby is small, they're further set back in the womb than usual, or our calculations could be slightly off since neither of you were certain of the date of conception."
"Would that change the due date?"
Lucien shrugged as he wrote down the numbers in her file, "Maybe by a week or so, but I don't see you going past Christmas, honestly."
Alice nodded, and smiled when Matthew pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. "All that's left is weight, blood pressure, and your treat, right, Lucien?"
He nodded, "I'll bring out the treat now, we can take weight and blood pressure afterwards, and then I can look at those bruises from yesterday. Ah, and change the gauze on your hand."
Matthew watched with curiosity as Lucien rummaged around in his medical bag, going on and on about some new equipment he borrowed from the hospital, and that it was good Matthew was here this time to experience whatever the hell it was his friend was excited about.
"Here we are!" Lucien pulled out what looked to be a stethoscope, but it was slightly different than the ones Matthew had seen at the hospital. "Today, Matthew and Alice, you get to hear baby's heartbeat."
"Really?" Matthew's eyebrows shot up and he caught the gleam in Alice's eyes as she watched the instrument in Lucien's hand - always the scientist, she jumped at a new experience.
"Yes, really, just let me find it first and then you can take turns. I'm assuming Alice first and then you, Matthew?"
Exchanging looks with Alice, he shrugged, "Sounds good, she is the one carrying the baby after all."
Alice smiled and squeezed his hand. Their friend eased the end of the stethoscope over the bump until he found a good spot to listen. They watched as he listened closely and then nodded. Keeping one hand on the end of the scope to hold it in place, Lucien handed over the earpiece end to Alice.
She gingerly put them in and Matthew watched as her eyes grew wide - his wife looking to Lucien for confirmation (he nodded with a grin) before a brilliant smile crossed her face and she watched her bump with awe.
"Fascinating," she whispered, and Matthew had to grin.
Alice listened for a little longer before she excitedly pulled Matthew closer and handed him the earpiece. After a bit of gentle guidance on her end, Matthew leaned against the examination table and put them in his ears. The world grew weirdly muffled - like he was under water, and Matthew had the odd sensation of hearing himself breathe until a new, stranger sound drowned it out.
A light, odd thrumming - faster than his own heartbeat - filled his ears and he reached for Alice in shock.
"Is that-?" he started to ask and then stopped when he wasn't sure how loud he was speaking - that and he wanted to hear the strange sound more.
His wife nodded with a smile, "That's our baby."
He barely heard her over the baby's heartbeat, but Matthew grinned as he listened. Suddenly it was all so much more real; their baby had a heartbeat, one that both he and Alice could hear with this stethoscope Lucien "borrowed" from the hospital, and in a few months time their baby would be here. Pulling the earpieces out reluctantly and handing them back to his oldest friend, Matthew leaned down and kissed Alice.
"Amazing," he smiled against her lips as she laughed softly, "Absolutely amazing."
She nodded and kissed him gently as Lucien gave them a bit of privacy. "I can't believe it, Matthew."
"You've got some time to work on it," Matthew chuckled as she swatted at his shoulder. "Our child… I never knew you could actually hear a baby before it was born outside of being a midwife."
"Me either," Alice smiled as Matthew put his hand on her belly. She covered his hand with hers and kissed him again. "A good, strong heartbeat."
"A good, strong mother too," Matthew kissed her. "A good, strong baby that we'll meet by Christmas… our Christmas miracle."
"Or maybe just an early present," Alice leaned against his shoulder as Baby Lawson kicked at his palm. "It's all… so surreal and yet real at the same time."
"I know," he kissed her forehead. "We've got to start cracking down on some preparations."
"We'll start after my parents are dealt with."
"Deal."
"Alright, Alice, you can hop down from there if you'd like," Lucien's voice broke through their little bubble and they looked up at their smiling friend.
Alice nodded and asked Matthew to hand her the pajama bottoms while he held the sheet up for privacy. Once she was dressed again, Alice leaned on his offered hand to step down from the examination table and walked over to the scale for Lucien to note her weight, and then let him take her blood pressure.
"Everything looks good," Lucien smiled and offered the two chairs in front of his desk for them to sit in after he'd updated her chart.
Matthew sat with a bit of a groan as his friend looked over the bruise on Alice's cheek and the ones on her upper arm. He chewed on his inner cheek as he took in the dark purplish-green marks on his wife's skin and held onto his anger with a tight leash - if he was a lesser man, both Alistair and Lavinia Harvey would be bruised to a pulp themselves, much less breathing.
"Healing nicely, there might be some lingering soreness from these until they continue to heal, so try not to put pressure on them, Alice."
"I'll try," she nodded - her cheeks turning pink when Lucien noticed some of the dark reddish-purple love bites adorning her chest (exposed by the low-cut of her pajama top). Lucien said nothing, but his eyes certainly glittered with amusement. "And my hand?"
"Yes, let me get the gauze and we'll see how that's doing."
With a new bandage around her palm, Alice settled back into the chair and Lucien sat behind the desk again with a smile.
"Everything is looking good and healthy in the pregnancy for Baby Lawson so far. Your blood pressure is still good, a little higher than your normal, non-pregnant state, but that's to be expected. If it gets dramatically higher or you start feeling dizzy or faint from this day forward, let either me or Jean know immediately."
His wife tangled her fingers in his as she nodded, "Anything I should be aware of?"
"Not really, you're more in tune with your body than I am, Alice. Keep an eye on any sudden changes or cramps. You've noticed your fingers starting to swell, and your ankles, but that's fine, all relatively normal. Really it's just any sudden or drastic differences that will be worrisome, but you've been perfectly healthy throughout this whole pregnancy, Alice; I think it'll continue going smoothly up until the birth."
"Sounds good."
"Yes, now, I'd like to bring up work. I know you still want to continue working full-time, but with your feet and back getting tired with long periods of standing or sitting - and the baby waking you in the middle of the night - I'm just concerned about you getting enough rest."
"I do want to continue working full-time, Lucien, but… maybe after next week I can cut back to part-time. I'll be at twenty-eight weeks by then, so I can do maybe a month of part-time work in the morgue and then take those weeks leading up to the baby's arrival off to rest more and do any last minute preparations."
Lucien grinned, "You've obviously thought this through and I don't have any objections to it. Matthew? You've been awfully quiet over there."
"I'm just trying to figure out if I'll need to take any time off in the coming months."
Alice squeezed his hand with a smile and he smiled back.
"Maybe after the baby is born, but depending on when that is, it might coincide with your paid holiday. Before then is up to you and whether or not you and Alice will take any vacation before the baby gets here."
"Could you walk us through after the baby's arrival, Lucien?" he asked.
"Of course. After Baby Lawson arrives, if Alice is in the hospital, she'll stay there for a week in bed. The same rule applies if she ends up having a home birth - the baby can just stay with her instead of in the hospital nursery. Her body will need time to recuperate and rest after birth, so no getting out of bed unless absolutely necessary. After a full week in bed, she'll either come home and spend another week on partial bed rest, or transition to partial bed rest if she's already home. These couple of weeks after the birth might be a good time for you to take off, Matthew, or part-time at work."
"And after that?"
"I'm taking a month off work," Alice piped up, "that's what Jean suggested and also what Mac suggested as well. After that… part-time at the hospital?"
Lucien nodded, "Yes, that's very reasonable, we'll ease you back in once the baby has a routine down. And it'll all depend on how you feel, Alice, and how baby is coping after birth."
Noting the slightly stubborn set of Alice's jaw, Matthew hid a smile behind his hand - Alice would go back to work when she said she would, and accept nothing less.
(He wondered how well her stubbornness would mesh with that of a newborn baby)
"I'll start training Hobart more, then, for a stop-gap at least," he spoke. "And put in a request with Melbourne for a few new constables or sergeants since we're still down a man at the station."
"Charlie's not coming back any time soon, I gather?"
"No, they're apparently keeping him longer for some more specialized training. He's either impressed someone in the top brass somewhere, or ticked them off, but he's still at City South for now with Jack and Hugh."
"Ah, well," Lucien shrugged and shuffled papers into Alice's files as he looked them over. "He'll come back at some point, hopefully. In the meantime, Alice, you're healthy and so is the baby. Take these next few weeks to start preparations for Baby Lawson's arrival, but also to take time for each other. Any sudden changes, come either to me immediately or the hospital if I'm away."
"I will," Alice promised.
Lucien smiled and rounded the desk; pressing a kiss to Alice's cheek and clapping Matthew on the shoulder, his smile widened, "I'm so happy for you both, now go, get out of here and join the rest in the parlor. I'll be out shortly."
Matthew shook his head fondly and stood with a groan - Alice not far behind - and they trooped out of the study towards the voices in the parlor. Alice pulled on his hand and he turned back to her with a raised eyebrow.
Leaning up to kiss him, Alice smiled, "I figured out another name."
"Really? What is it?"
"Grace Elizabeth, my sister's middle name is Grace."
He smiled and kissed her, "I love it. Just two more names to go and we'll have one thing off our checklist done."
Her giggles were music to his ears as she kissed him again, "I'll talk with Jean after Peg and Frank have gone and things settle again, see what we can do and whether or not we have to make a few trips to Melbourne soon."
"Let me know when you need any help, even if it's just my wallet, sweetheart."
Matthew laughed when Alice swatted at his arm with mock ire; She pulled him in for another kiss, "Just for that, I'm dragging you along on every trip from here on out."
"I can think of worse things than spending the day with you, Alice."